Productivity

EU Taxonomy: The Road to a Green Planned Economy

With its so-called taxonomy, the European Union is planning an economic structure that will be characterized by bureaucracy and malinvestment. The drastic consequences for productivity and prosperity will only gradually become apparent.

The ECB Faces a Predicament, the Euro an Impasse

With the now obvious failure of the ECB’s inflationary low interest rate policy, things are now also bad for the euro. The “whatever it takes” approach to saving the euro has reached a point where a reconsideration is necessary.

Do We Need a ‘Great Reset’, or More Capitalism?

For many, capitalism needs to be reinvented. And yet it proved to be robust, innovative and enormously successful, especially during the pandemic. Thus, the idea of a “Great Reset” merely serves familiar anti-capitalist prejudices.

What Does the Coronavirus Crisis Teach Us about the Labor Market?

The Covid-19 crisis threw many out of work, many suffered accordingly, and labor markets were also damaged. Depending on the situation, some governments fared better than others. In any case, policymakers can learn a few things from the pandemic.

Low Interest Rate Policy Cripples the Economy and Reduces Prosperity

Japan’s low interest rate policy began 30 years ago, about 15 years earlier than in the EU. But three decades of low interest rate policy meant three lost decades for Japan. In an interview with Stefan Beig, economist Gunther Schnabl explains why the low interest rate policy is so damaging to prosperity.

Economic Liberalism Is Not Social Darwinism: From Adam Smith to Charles Darwin

A hundred years before Darwin, the economist and philosopher Adam Smith discovered that, thanks to the division of labor, the most skilled workers and enterprises prevail, not simply the ones with more brute strength. Darwin was significantly influenced by this idea.

No More Growth—And Happiness Is Just Around The Corner

Critics of growth call for zero growth or even “degrowth”. Their fears are based on economic misconceptions and a failure to recognize the capitalist dynamic of decoupling growth from resource consumption. Moreover, they fail to recognize the needs of poor countries.

The Primacy of Politics and the “Other” Socialism

The “primacy of politics” over the logic of the economy is repeatedly and categorically demanded. Insofar as such efforts undermine the private property-based power of disposition over the means of production, it is the first step in the direction of the “other socialism.”

The Political Management of the Coronavirus Crisis: The Potential Harm of Damage Compensation

We could be facing the biggest economic crisis of all time. Will politicians be able to learn the lessons from this and use the crisis as an opportunity for a new beginning in economic and public health policy?

Freedom or Equality? “Social Justice” Is Not a Demand of Classical Liberalism

Historically as inequality dissipates the inequalities that remain become intolerable for many. Freedom then becomes seen as an enemy to greater equality. The modern welfare state seeks to establish equality through redistribution, but leaves people dependent and demoralized by their caregivers.

“Stimulating the economy”—the destructive standard remedy promoted by the statist economists

Should the State enhance the “aggregate demand” through stimulation? Followers of Hayek still have very good arguments against that proposal, but the politicians love Keynes . . .

How the French state eats up the well-being of its people

The billions spent by the European Central Bank are not going to save the labor markets of Italy and France. This is proven by figures from the everyday business world.